Freddie Mercury

For many years, fans of the ‘Barcelona’ album had wanted to hear how it
might have sounded with a live orchestra. It’s hard to believe that the
original was almost entirely recorded on keyboards — a decision
Freddie made largely because he was already stepping into unfamiliar
territory working with an opera singer, and arranging a score for a full
eighty-piece orchestra proved one step too far beyond his comfort zone

In 2012, to mark the album’s 25th anniversary, Stuart Morley — musical
director of the Queen musical ‘We Will Rock You’ — faithfully adapted
the entire score for orchestra, lifting an already outstanding record into a
whole new stratosphere: rousing, triumphant, emotional and magnificent.

Alongside the orchestral score, performed by the City Of Prague
Philharmonic, other live instruments were added for the first time. Naoko
Kikuchi, one of the few koto players in the western world, flew in to add
the ancient oriental instrument to ‘La Japonaise’. Rufus Taylor, Roger’s
son, replaced the drum machines and percussion on ‘The Golden Boy’
and ‘How Can I Go On’ - the latter also gaining a new violin solo from
David Garrett. And, of course, John Deacon appears on bass.

With ‘Barcelona: Special Edition’, the album finally became what it was
meant to be… giving the world the chance to rediscover and fall in love
with it all over again, this time with a real orchestra. The only downside
is that the visionary behind this masterpiece wasn’t around to hear it.